A Highbury man has raised more than £5,000 for Whittington Health Charity after successfully climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and surviving the Morocco earthquake, alongside his son.
After suffering badly from altitude sickness halfway up Kilimanjaro, Christian Sweeney, 44, summited the African mountain in seven days, completing it on Friday 13 October, and raising £5,420.
Sweeney had to “dig deep” to complete the climb and credited “the amazing local people I came across,” for his success, as well as the cause he was climbing for, which he holds close to his heart.
“My sister sadly died [at Whittington Hospital] recently, and my wife is a Senior Nurse there. Seeing what my wife and her wonderful colleagues go through daily and especially during Covid made me realise just how much places like The Whittington should be supported.”
“Whittington Health Charity relies on donations to continue its vital work and we are incredibly grateful to Christian for taking on this enormous challenge and raising nearly £5,500. This sum will make a real difference,” said Fundraising Manager Katherine Mobey.
One of the projects the charity will fund is the conversion of an unused outdoor space into a tranquil courtyard that will be used by patients with dementia and learning disabilities, as well as those under intensive care.
Third time lucky
The successful ascent was Sweeney’s third attempt at the challenge, having been stopped on two prior occasions – by a knee injury and the Covid pandemic.
During a training climb in early September, Sweeney was nearly denied the opportunity of climbing Kilimanjaro for a third time: “It was close to not happening for a third time as myself and my 17-year-old son Dylan went to climb Mount Toubkal in the Atlas Mountains. We were camping and asleep by the epicentre of the huge earthquake that hit Morocco.
“I woke to noise that I would describe as a plane nose diving towards the ground. Then there was a massive explosion and the ground started shaking which threw me around the tent. I could hear explosive type sounds which turned out to be the mountain separating.”
Thanks to the help of a local guide, Sweeney and his son survived.
